This New Self-Guided Bullet Can Hit Targets Over A Mile Away
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- FreeSpiritMuse
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http://www.businessinsider.com/bi-self-guided-bullet-2012-1
The possibilities for failure in long-range shooting are as immense as they are mind-numbing. Pitch, yaw, air density, heat, cold, the curve of the earth, and the planet's rotation on its axis all conspire make shots at half-a-mile miss, on average, by about 30 feet.
Sandia Labs looks like they've changed all that with their new self-guided round, which sheds enough convention that it resembles a small missile more than a traditional bullet (via Katie Drummond at Danger Room).
Four-inches long, laser-guided, while sporting fins and a forward center of gravity, Sandia's bullet has an optical sensor in the nose that guides it to the target, while an eight-bit processor running a proprietary algorithm steers the round as it flies. Sandia expects the new technology to be developed quickly and inexpensively.
Because of the bullet's diminutive size compared to say a full-scale missile, the same flight corrections can be performed dozens of times per second in its Mach 2.1 flight. Sandia's engineers expect to raise that speed to military requirements using customized gunpowder.
The possibilities for failure in long-range shooting are as immense as they are mind-numbing. Pitch, yaw, air density, heat, cold, the curve of the earth, and the planet's rotation on its axis all conspire make shots at half-a-mile miss, on average, by about 30 feet.
Sandia Labs looks like they've changed all that with their new self-guided round, which sheds enough convention that it resembles a small missile more than a traditional bullet (via Katie Drummond at Danger Room).
Four-inches long, laser-guided, while sporting fins and a forward center of gravity, Sandia's bullet has an optical sensor in the nose that guides it to the target, while an eight-bit processor running a proprietary algorithm steers the round as it flies. Sandia expects the new technology to be developed quickly and inexpensively.
Because of the bullet's diminutive size compared to say a full-scale missile, the same flight corrections can be performed dozens of times per second in its Mach 2.1 flight. Sandia's engineers expect to raise that speed to military requirements using customized gunpowder.
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- The Future
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FreeSpiritMuse
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A small light attached to the round charts its path during a nighttime field test at Sandia Labs
Sandia’s design for the four-inch-long bullet includes an optical sensor in the nose to detect a laser beam on a target. The sensor sends information to guidance and control electronics that use an algorithm in an eight-bit central processing unit to command electromagnetic actuators. These actuators steer tiny fins that guide the bullet to the target.
https://share.sandia.gov/news/resources/news_releases/bullet/
- 4 months ago
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FreeSpiritMuse
